That's a pretty general and subjective idea. The best for them as human beings–health, finances, and entertainment? The best for them in the classroom? To connect with other educators? To stay on top of emerging tools and trends in education? To use with students?
For iOS, Android, or Windows Phone? Can we assume there's WiFi access? Is data use an issue? What about data privacy? And what do we mean by "free" Truly free? Are in-app purchases available? Necessary? Is it a free version that has hideous banners everywhere?
To say that there is a lot to consider is an understatement.
That said, we've taken a wide-lens view of the modern teacher and taken a stab at what might be considered 50 of the best really, truly actually free apps available for iOS. They may have some paid options, but they're each entirely useful without spending a penny.
While we do look at music, health tracking apps, and other teachers-as-a-human-being apps, we focus mostly on the kinds of digital content that will help you teach more effectively to a wider range of students in more compelling and dynamic ways than ever before. All free.
2016-03-27
50 of the best Free Apps for teachers
Interactive Ebook Creation & Digital Publishing Software
Create and publish interactive ebooks for Android, iPad, iPhone, HTML5 web, and desktop
Create and publish interactive ebooks for Android, iPad, iPhone, HTML5 web, and desktop
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Superb free ebook creator software.
Kotobee Author: Create interactive ebooks with this ebook creator and editor, and export to web, desktop, and mobile
Kotobee Publisher: Design children storybooks and magazines rich with interactivity and multimedia for all platforms;
Kotobee Cloud Provide cloud services to your users, and take control over user access. Package your ebooks into libraries;
Kotobee Author Create interactive ebooks with this ebook creator and editor, and export to web, desktop, and mobile Kotobee Publisher Design children storybooks and magazines rich with interactivity and multimedia for all platforms Kotobee Cloud Provide cloud services to your users, and take control over user access. Package your ebooks into libraries Kotobee Reader Provide your users with interactive ebook reading tools, within your smart branded interface
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Superb ebook creator software comprising four tools, Author, Publisher, Cloud and Reader:
Kotobee Author: Create interactive ebooks with this ebook creator and editor, and export to web, desktop, and mobile;
Kotobee Publisher: Design children storybooks and magazines rich with interactivity and multimedia for all platforms;
Kotobee Cloud: Provide cloud services to your users, and take control over user access. Package your ebooks into libraries;
Kotobee Reader: Provide your users with interactive ebook reading tools, within your smart branded interface.
There are free versions of the Author, Publisher and Reader.
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2016-03-26
Managing the Digital Classroom
This is my presentation slide deck with all the links to the materials and resources from my plenary at King Saud University. The presentation looked at how we can resist the changes technology is forcing into the classroom or how we can welcome them, adapt our teaching style to them and make technology a positive forse for change.
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Nik Peachey's slide deck from his plenary at King Saud University.
2016-03-23
20 Awesome BYOD and Mobile Learning Apps - Edutopia
"This is our first year of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and boy, did the students bring it. They brought it all! We have iPads, Surface RT and Pro, iPhones, Droids, Chromebooks, Macs, and PC laptops. Here's my current thinking. Please share yours in the comments section below."
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Working across many devices and many platforms can be a challenge for anyone implementing BYOD. This article describes some of the apps essential for tackling the problems.
Student Engagement Strategies for the Online Learning Environment
Our faculty development unit gathered data from students about how engaged they felt in their online courses.Their comments helped inform our teaching.
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
This article gives you an overview of the online teaching practices on the Graduate Certificate Program at UW-Stout.
2016-03-14
Knowing the Difference Between Digital Skills and Digital Literacies, and Teaching Both
Maha Bali writes: "We often hear people talk about the importance of digital knowledge for 21st-century learners. Unfortunately, many focus on skills rather than literacies. Digital skills focus on what and how. Digital literacy focuses on why, when, who, and for whom."
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Maha Bali's article is worth sharing widely with anyone who needs to be nudged ever so gently into the 21st century of education. (We're 16% through it, folks!) Bali addresses the need to teach about digital skills and literacy in an authentic context, not a vacuum, and gives many concrete examples for doing that.
I recently did a lesson on blogging with a 6th grade class. We looked at several tween and teen blogs, then reviewed good digital citizenship practices emphasizing student safety and copyright. Finally, each student created a blog on Blogger. Will they make mistakes? Probably. (When I specifically told them to keep it school appropriate, with nothing in the blog they wouldn't be allowed to do at school, and one student immediately started searching for "Call of Duty 3" images!) Will we all learn something from this? Absolutely.
2016-03-13
Digital Tools Series - TedEd
TED Ed is a great tool for creating online lessons around videos. It enables you to structure a sequence of interactive activities around the video clip th...
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Download instructions, teaching suggestions and tips for getting started as well as a tutorial video. Free.
2016-03-10
Why Is A Virtual Classroom Better Than A Real One? - eLearning Industry
The analysis of such situations shows that effective eLearning can take the best from traditional education and even surpass it. Modern learning tools should allow instructors and students to create, edit, and comment on all presented materials. This will encourage discussion and keep everybody updated on the latest news. Webinars and instant messages in chats are especially necessary in the corporate sector, for example when new products are put on the market and the first hands-on experiences are highly valued
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
For years people have been asking "Is online education as good as face-to-face education?" But we shouldn't ask that question because it implies that F2F is some sort of gold standard, and in my experience that is certainly not the case. It's rather like asking the question "Is a TESLA car as good as a Reliant Robin?"
2016-03-09
What makes students stick with a MOOC?
Some interesting findings.Millions of people sign up for free online higher education courses offered by top-tier institutions, but only a small percentage of registrants earn a completion certificate. A new large-scale Vanderbilt study took an in-depth look at what factors contribute to student persistence and engagement in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Some interesting findings.
2016-03-08
Changing How We Think About Africa
Do you speak African? Well, neither do the 1 billion people on the continent.Africa is home to 54 different nations, more than 2,000 languages and four of the world's 10 fastest growing economies, but is often painted with a sweeping stroke of doom and gloom. In this week's Reality Check, Mehdi Hasan exposes popular misconceptions about the African continent.
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
This short video is full of with examples and statistics that show that many of the 'doom and gloom' perspectives and ways of thinking about Africa are outdated (at best). Here are some good facts to update how we talk about Africa.
Tags: Africa, perspective.
2016-03-03
Building an Educational App? Read This First (EdSurge News)
Over the next four years, nearly a billion students will enter middle and high school, and if recent projections are accurate, most of them will have a smartphone in their pocket. These students will decide what apps they use and when they use them, and could potentially take large parts of their education into their own hands.
Despite this potential, there are few break-out apps that cater directly to students. The education app charts are led by games and classroom tools, and the largest student-focused apps—Duolingo, Quizlet, and recently PhotoMath—only serve a thin slice of student needs, leaving huge potential for new entrants.
We've spent the last two years at Socratic studying how students learn with the Internet. In hopes of inspiring the development of more student-focused apps, we'd like to share some of our insights about how students use their phones while studying today.
What killed the mobile learning dream?
Mobile learning has stalled, argues John Traxler, professor of digital learning at the University of Wolverhampton's Institute of Education. He challenges Digifest to examine what's happened and how can it get back on track.
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